Combined chalk board and bulletin board



Ap 14, 1959 w." F. LEWIS COMBINED CHALK BOARD AND BULLETIN BOARD Filed Jan. 11 1957 [Hz/E17 ZEF' /4 /44 //IM [AEW/S United States Patent COMBINED CHALK BOARD AND BULLETIN BOARD William F. Lewis, Oak Park, Ill.

Application January 11, 1957, Serial No. 633,636

4 Claims. (CI. 35-62) This invention relates to improvements in bulletin 2,881,538 Patented Apr. 14, 1959 wardly and as extending toward the plane of the writing boards and more particularly relates to such boards as 1 may be written on with chalk and the like and having provision to tack bulletins thereto.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an improved form of bulletin board so constructed and arranged as to be capable of being written on with chalk and the like and having a portion capable of receiving thumb tacks for tacking bulletins thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of bulletin board having a fiat writing surface and an integral frame extending thereabout, in which the entire flat surface may be written on with chalk and having a board guided within the frame along the flat surface for receiving thumb tacks for tacking bulletins thereto.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved bulletin board integrally formed from a thermoplastic material having a flat writing surface capable of being written on with chalk, with an integral frame extending outwardly from the margin thereof, and a board capable of receiving tacks slidably guided within said frame along said fiat surface and forming a board for the tacking of bulletins thereto.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a bulletin board constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line IIII of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line IIIIII of Figure 1.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, a bulletin board is shown as having a frame 11 extending from the margin of a rectangular fiat writing surface 12 of the board. The bulletin board and frame 11 may preferably be formed from a thermoplastic material formed in a mold by a vacuum molding process. The thermoplastic material may be of various well known forms, which when molded will have a flat non-porous surface, which is suficiently dull to be plainly written on with chalk and may be any resin which can be melted by heat and then cooled such as, cellulose derivatives, vinyl resins, polystyrenes, polyamides, acrylic resins and various other like materials.

The frame 11 defining the margin of the flat writing surface of the bulletin board has a bottom rail 13 having a recessed inner wall portion 16 extending for the length of the bottom rail 13 and forming a rail for chalk and the like extending the length of said bottom rail. The chalk rail or recessed portion of the bottom rail 13 turns outwardly and around the top of the rail into rounded peak 17 extending about an insert 19 which may be a wood dowel pin or the like, forming a reinforcement for the bottom rail 13. The outer wall of the bottom rail 13 is shown as being inclined outsurface 12 in outwardly spaced relation with respect thereto. A boss 20 extends outwardly or downwardly from said outer wall, intermediate the ends thereof and is apertured to provide a means for mounting the board to a wall. The lower rail 13 also has an inwardly extending ledge 21 extending therealong for a distance herein shown as being less than half the length thereof and having an inclined face 23 inclined inwardly from said ledge toward the surface of the board 12, which with a similar oppositely inclined face 24 extending from a ledge 25 of an upper rail 26 of the frame 11, forms in effect a clove tail guide slidably receiving a tack up board 27. The tack up board 27 may be made from a composition material for holding thumb tacks and the like, and may be removed by slidable movement of said board beyond the ends of the dove tail guide formed by the sloping surfaces 23 and 24. While the tack up board 27 is shown as taking up a little less than half the length of the bulletin board, it should be understood that it may be of various lengths as desired and that the dove tail guide formed by the sloping surfaces 23 and 24 affords suflicient support for the board to support the tack up board in various desired positions along the rails 13 and 26 of the frame 11, to permit the writing on each side of the tack up board 27 if desired.

The top rail 26 has an inner wall 29 extending angularly outwardly from the ledge 25 and from the surface of the board beyond said ledge and terminating in a rounded peak 31 having an outwardly inclined wall 32 having an ear 33 extending outwardly from the transverse center thereof and apertured to afford a means for mounting the board to a wall or like surface. The side rails of the frame 11 are similar in cross section to the top rail thereof, except they do not have the ledges 21 or 25. Said side rails are molded to join the lower and upper rails of the frame in uniformly curving surfaces.

It may be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a simple and compact integrally formed bulletin board which may form in effect a blackboard capable of being written on with chalk and accommodating the ready erasing of the chalk therefrom with a dry or damp cloth. It may further be seen that the bulletin board of my invention is made possible by the molding of a sheet of thermoplastic material, molded in a mold and partially forming the sheet by suction and that the integral bulletin board provides a slidable support for a tack up board accommodating the tacking of bulletins thereto and the positioning of the tack up board in various positions along the bulletin board as desired, by merely sliding the tack up board along its supporting guides in the bulletin board.

It will also be understood that the detailed structure of the bulletin board of the invention may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that I do not wish to be construed as limiting myself to the specific form shown and described except as limited by the scope of the claims appended thereto.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bulletin board comprising a flat writing surface formed of a thermoplastic sheet of material capable of being written on with chalk and having a frame extending thereabout and formed integrally therewith, having upper and lower rails, said upper and lower rails having ledges extending therealong a distance less than half the length of said writing surface and having inwardly inclined faces, inclined inwardly therefrom to said writing surface, a tack board retained to said writing surface by said inclined faces and guided thereby for slidable movement along said writing surface, the lower of said rails having a recess in the inner wall thereof extending the length thereof and forming a chalk carrying recess.

2. A bulletin board comprising a flat thermoplastic sheet forming a writing surface capable of being written on with chalk and having a frame extending about the margin thereof and formed integrally therewith, said frame having an upper rail and side rails having faces inclined outwardly from said writing surface and having a lower rail having an inner face terminating in a rounded edge portion having a rounded stiff reinforcing member imbedded therein, and with the inner wall of said lower rail forming a recess extending therealong, forming a chalk rail.

3. A bulletin board comprising a flat thermoplastic sheet forming a writing surface capable of being written on with chalk and having a frame extending about the margin thereof and formed integrally therewith, said frame having an upper rail and side rails having faces inclined outwardly from said writing surface and having a lower rail having an inner face terminating in a rounded edge portion having a rounded stiff reinforcing member imbedded therein and with the inner wall of said lower rail forming a recess extending therealong forming a chalk rail, the upper and lower rails of said frame having ledges extending inwardly therefrom for a portion of the length thereof and having retaining faces extend ing from said ledges angularly inwardly to said writing surface and forming a dove tail retaining guide, and a tack board slidably mounted in said guide for ready insertion and removal therefrom and for positioning in various selected positions along said writing surface.

4. A bulletin board comprising a flat writing surface said guides formed between the inner faces of said ledges and said writing surface and guided by said guides for slidable movement along said writing surface, to enable the position of said tack board to be selected with respect to said writing surface, to provide a surface accommodating the tacking of bulletins to said tack board and writing on said writing surface in a selected relationship with respect to said tack board.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 27,818 Mayall Apr. 10, 1860 83,645 Leighton Nov. 3, 1868 189,118 Mallet Apr. 3, 1877 277,164 Scrymgeour May 8, 1883 376,786 Scrymgeour Ian. 24, 1888 2,541,497 Buxbaum Feb. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 112,374 Great Britain Jan. 10, 1918 202,212 Great Britain Aug. 16, 1923 

